Life After a Hurricane: How Save the Children Supports Children and Families During Disasters and their Aftermath

Before Hurricane Florence hit, save the Children deployed our emergency response team and pre-positioned essential child-focused supplies designed to help vulnerable children during disasters and their aftermath. Our teams are committed to supporting the children and families in their long-term recovery, as the emotional distress of evacuating home and being out of school can take its toll on children.

As the roads in North Carolina re-open after Hurricane Florence, our humanitarian relief experts continue to assess the storm’s impact on children and provide assistance to those in shelters – even reaching New Bern which saw record flooding. We continue to work tirelessly to address the needs of thousands of families who were forced to evacuate their homes, fearing the worst.

In post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans in 2005, Save the Children developed Journey of Hope, a child-informed program that draws on children’s strengths to support their resilience. Journey of Hope has helped thousands of children and their caregivers affected by the 2017 hurricanes in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico cope with loss, fear and stress. Here is the story of one such family.

After Hurricane Harvey, fifty-four counties in Texas were declared a state of disaster. Rainfall was measured in feet. Two more devastating U.S. hurricanes would follow, all within a month of one another. Each of them leaving children and families reeling. Families like Alexia and her son DeAndre.

As Hurricane Harvey flooded Houston, Alexia and her 10-year-old son, DeAndre, watched the water levels rise and cover the floors in their apartment. When the bathroom ceiling caved in, Alexia knew they needed to go, but she worried about her son being stuck in a shelter without the space to be a kid.

At the shelter, Alexia brought DeAndre to our child-friendly space, where he soon made friends, played games, created art and went on field trips. Alexia says this allowed him to disconnect from the stress of the storm and gave her peace of mind knowing that he was safe and happy. Our staff stood by Alexia as she made arrangements to get out of the shelter and helped her ask the right questions to ensure they weren’t forgotten.

And one year post-Harvey, DeAndre unlocks the door to their new, fully furnished apartment. He has his own room and a playground around the corner. “If it wasn’t for Save the Children, we wouldn’t be in an apartment. We would probably be either moved around to a different place from the shelter or we would be out on the street,” says Alexia.

With your support, 261,170 children and adults from the Texas coast to the greater Houston area have directly or indirectly benefited from our relief and recovery programs.1 Additionally, nearly 39,000 children and adults from the Florida Keys to Jacksonville impacted by Hurricane Irma have directly and indirectly benefited from Save the Children-supported programs made possible through the generosity of our donors.2 In Puerto Rico, more than 116,000 children and adults have benefited from our Hurricane Maria relief and recovery programs.3

Today, more than 1 million people in coastal areas of Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina have been ordered to evacuate their homes as Hurricane Florence pounds the coast. How many children and families will watch the water levels rise and cover the floors the way Alexia and DeAndre did when a hurricane struck their home?

Save the Children needs your generous gift to help protect vulnerable children and provide desperately needed relief to families.